27 November 2018

Scattershots – 27nov18 (updated 28nov18)

George Rebane

Climate Hysteria Continues. Along with many other analysts, Steve Koonin in the 26nov18 WSJ reports (here) that “Headlines warned of economic doom after the U.S. government released its fourth National Climate Assessment last week. Yet a close reading of the report shows that the overall economic impact of human-caused climate change is expected to be quite small.” The report has more holes in it than swiss cheese, but it is the latest blast to continue political pressure on the ignorant and poorly read to start ‘doing something’ to materially hobble the US economy in order to ‘prevent a climate catastrophe’. None of it holds water, and as Koonin points out, a closer reading debunks its main alarums. Here assemble government agencies that in their best days cannot reliably predict next week’s weather or next quarter’s GDP, all pretending to tell us what the world will be like 75 years from now. The report’s survival in the public forum does not reflect well on our collective intelligence.

Presumption of innocence is one of the seminal starting points of any adjudication of guilt in enlightened western societies, and has been so for a couple of centuries now. Not so according to a Mr Pete Williams as he pits his logic against the recent Kavanaugh hearings. His letter in the 26nov18 Union (here) argues “the presumption of innocence applies in criminal cases, not civil law suits or administrative matters such as applications for security clearances, job interviews, or hearings to gather information on prospective appointees, like Kavanaugh. The theory behind the presumption of innocence applying only to criminal cases is that it is better that a guilty person escape conviction than for an innocent prison(sic) to be sent to prison. The Supreme Court hearings are not a criminal proceeding — and thus the presumption of innocence was not applicable to the Kavanaugh hearings.” This terminally progressive gentleman reveals what will be the demeanor of their star chamber courts when the socialists cum communists finally achieve their primacy in the halls of our government (e.g. Stalin’s purge trials of the 1930s). What the gentleman totally misses is the significant nuance that the receipt of a security clearance or similar benefice (e.g. corporate job) is not a constitutional right, it is a privilege to be properly granted by the government charged with the nation’s security. Its refusal does not destroy the applicant. However, in cases – administrative, civil, congressional, etc – where a nominee’s reputation, ability to continue his career, and to care for his family is put on the line, all western civilized cultures have tacitly accepted the premise that the burden to prove condemning accusations rests on the accuser, and not their defense on the gratuitously accused. This distinction is totally lost on our Left, hence RR and other voices consider these lopsided sentiments to be a danger to the very foundations of our way of life – but apparently not of theirs.

[28nov18 update] As the last echoes of the election die down, we should always be reminded of the words of Josif Vissarionovich Stalin - "It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything."

Comments

So let it be written so let it be done Dr. R!

Tell em brother -

This is how old I am. … Old enough to remember being told that by now…
We would be living through a new Ice Age by the year 2000.
We would all die when the ozone layer disappeared.
The oceans would be dead.
Global Cooling would destroy the world.
Acid rain would destroy our forests.
Overpopulation would result in worldwide famine.
We would deplete our natural resources.
We would run out of oil.
The polar ice caps would melt.
Manhattan would be underwater.
People who live in cities will have to wear gas masks.
Nitrogen buildup will make the land unusable.
“Decaying organic pollutants would use up all of the oxygen in America’s rivers, causing freshwater fish to suffocate.”

And that is just the Big Stuff, the world-shaking predictions the oh-so holy scientific consensus got horribly wrong during my lifetime. Yes, that science was also declared settled.

Now… Imagine if we had declared the science settled on all the little stuff, on the small pleasures of life that the Holy Scientific Consensus tried to strip away from our lives, wonderful things like coffee, salt, fat, and eggs over easy — all of which were labeled poison within my lifetime, but now (thank heaven) no longer are.

You see, I am also old enough to remember when Climate Change was called Global Warming and then had to be re-branded because God made it snow every time Al Gore gave a speech.

e mass hysteria of Climate Change continues. What it means is higher taxes, more government control of industry, property, and people with more regulations and less individual rights....everything the Left loves.

I have stayed out of the Global Warming debate chiefly to let those who labor in the studies have their say. I will give it a go....

1) THE VOSTOK ICE CORE SAMPLES: French and Russian scientists in Antarctic drilled down a couple miles in the ice, carbon dating back 440,000 years ago. They studied (and continue to study) the oxygen and other gases contained therein.
—Bottomline: The ice cores tell a story a story of our Earth’s climate. Every increase in the Earth’s carbon dixoxide FOLOWED an increase in temperature (usually by 800 years, sometimes 200 years). That means that the Earth warmed first and then the CO2 levels increased, which also means that CO2 could not possibly cause Global Warming.
330,000 years ago the Earth was 4 degrees warmer than today, as well as more CO2 in the lower atmosphere.http://www.pnas.org/content/97/4/1331

2) When the glaciers receded in the Alps, an silver mine was uncovered. All the primitive tools were left in the entrance to the mine, evidence that the miners were planning to come back to the mine the next day or later. Unfinished work. Snow and ice covered the spot, making a return to the mine site impossible.

3) when the glacier ice in Greenland receded, farmed land was uncovered beneath. Land that had been previously farmed. From 1100 AD to 1250 AD there was a maximum of sunspot activity. It coincided with a warm interval called the “Medieval Warm Period” when the Vikings colonized southern Greenland and eastern Canada.

4) You can fit 26 million Earths into the Sun’s dimensions. One would think we all could agree that the sun gives us warmth. We are heading into another sunspot grand minimum right now. The last sunspot grand minimum was 1815: Known as “The year without a summer”. Minima happen every 200 years about, so counting forward 200 years we get 2015. Current sunspot count is nearly zero. On many days the sun’s face is blank This is the quietest sun we have seen in at least a century. Interesting to note that sharp rises in temps immediately proceed Solar Mimimuns. The 20th century warming trend stopped from 1997 to 2013.

Ok, boys and girls, let’s get down to some fun times on this socio-political blog!
From 1650 AD to 1715 AD there was a minimum of sunspot activity. It coincided with “The Little Ice Age” in the Northern Hemisphere. The Little Ice Age was devastating to crops, livestock, and civilization. It was also a time of increased disease.

Bottomline: The late 1600s were when the Witch Trials were happening in New England. Mass hysteria is more likely to happen in times of social or economic unrest, and a phenomenon called “scapegoating” causes certain groups of people to be singled out for blame.

I had read that nonsense about not giving Mr K the presumption of innocence. You must remember that the preface to all of this was that the Dems had declared they would stop his elevation to the SC before the hearings had even started.
The entire drama was a tragedy of epic proportions. The accuser hid evidence. The Dems sat on the accusation for months and then cried out that there was not a thorough investigation. Then the accuser lied repeatedly and strangely could not remember anything about the entire affair (nothing) excepting she had consumed one beer and the bad white man had tried to rape and/or murder her. And we must always believe left wing white girls always except when they accuse dark skinned guys in elevated Dem positions. And any gal accusing a male Clinton is also not to be believed no matter what.
I'm surprised the left can ever remember what they had for breakfast, let alone their 'deeply held beliefs'.
Still waiting for the copy of the dog whistle code book.
I know it's hard to edit copy when the text is changed daily.
But you lefties keep at it - just remember the internet has copies of everything.
Well - for now.
China is hard at work on the 'living' internet.

In the end, the United Nations Organization is looking for funding, and they appeal to nations to establish substantial taxation to penalize citizens for the use of inexpensive fossil fuels.

“Fiscal policy reform can play a key role in creating strong incentives for low-carbon investments and reducing GHG emissions,” the reports states. “Revenues from carbon pricing can be used for reducing other taxes, increase spending on social issues and/or compensating low-income households.”

The report urges nations to use the coercive measures at their disposal, which are primarily economic, to compel citizens to accelerate innovation in alternative energy technologies, whether or NOT they are financially self-sustaining.

I read that idiots article and shook my head that a American could write such crap. I bet he would sure want to have the presumption of innocence if he was accused wrongly in diddling a gal against her will. I say "walk in my shoes" before you send me to the wall.

“The bottom line is that we can believe climate change is real and needs to be addressed, yet disbelieve that courts are well-suited to the task of setting policy on it.

“Nevertheless, a recent nationwide strategy has looked to unelected judges and juries to craft climate policy. What might be called “the judicial strategy” started in 2015, with states like New York and Massachusetts beginning “civil investigative demand” inquiries into energy companies. And these efforts reached new heights recently when Acting New York AG Barbara Underwood filed a civil suit against ExxonMobil claiming it defrauded shareholders by supposedly hiding knowledge of climate change impacts through accounting practices that are not all that unusual across myriad industries.

“In concurrent and coordinated action starting in 2017, a series of lawsuits have also been filed across the country — by municipalities in California, Colorado, New York, Maryland and Washington, as well as by the state of Rhode Island — against energy companies claiming they are liable for billions in damages .......

Climate Hysteria vs Climate Science:
"Al Gore will host a 24-hour broadcast special on climate change next month featuring an array of celebrities and musical performances by artists that include Moby and the Goo Goo Dolls.

The former vice president on Tuesday announced the eighth annual “24 Hours of Reality: Protect Our Planet, Protect Ourselves,” which will be televised in more than 125 countries and streamed live online at 24HoursofReality.org, according to a news release.

The special will include performances by Moby, the Goo Goo Dolls, Sting & Shaggy, Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, among others, as well as celebrity appearances by Jaden Smith, Bill Nye, Téa Leoni, Claire Danes and Cody Simpson.

“Our health depends on the health of the planet,” Mr. Gore said in a statement. “The climate crisis is not an abstract issue; it has direct impacts on us and the people we love the most. I’m looking forward to exploring the climate and health connection on this year’s 24 Hours broadcast and to discussing how we can take bold and ambitious action to ensure that future generations can live long, healthy lives full of opportunity and promise.”https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/27/al-gore-host-24-hour-climate-change-special-featur/
Wow - I sure wish I could have science like that!
I'm wondering how Gore's health is doing since he mentioned it. Are any of his seaside mansions under water as he predicted? Can he maintain his vigor in his private jet? Gee - I sure wish I could blow a carbon footprint like him and be sooooo ECO! And so wealthy! How many billions does he have now? And every dollar he has is accompanied by a little tree or bush being planted right now!
Not to mention the millions of idiots that flock to his pasture and graze on his BS.
Meanwhile in France there are just a few folks a bit upset that their standard of living has just been lowered without any sort of vote so that the elite can make more money and claim to be soooo ECO.
This is such a ridiculous scam.

Experts on Climate Change Assessment: ‘Every Conclusion of This Latest Government Report Is False’

By Penny Starr

The federal government’s Fourth National Climate Assessment, released on Friday, has gained praise from leftists and left-wing environmental groups as a dire warning of the coming death and destruction in the United States if we don’t stop global warming.

But critics of the report, including scientists, have slammed it as “exaggeration,” bad science and even said its conclusions are “false.”

Well, you do have to wonder what the point of spending billions on climate research is if everyone already knows what's going to happen.

It would be interesting to check out all the local climate activists' CO2 saving measures, no doubt they are extensive. Get that high speed rail in place and everything should be copacetic, at least if you need to travel between Bakersfield and Fresno. The inevitable sketchy safety issues at the terminals will be the icing on the Save-the-climate Cake.

"And some of us are old enough to remember when climate change meant global cooling "

If the glaciers starting marching towards New York and London, the Green Libertarians would shove coal into power plants with both hands. As a practical matter, I'd say that what they're after is to put a thermostat on the Earth rather than let natural processes do their thing.

By now most here have heard of the invasion robbery yesterday.
Now why in hell is the local rag NOT saying the thugs were black?
Or where they call home?
Street rats are making Nev. Co. their new place to rob on a weekly basis.
Maybe the judge will give these a real cheep bail, like she did the last pair.

Oh.. How do I know the ethnicity? I heard all the action on the radio.

Krugman can't get Economics right……why should I give a crap what he thinks about Climate Change™?!

He can’t even tell you the difference between a girl and a boy. Oh, he probably can,
but is forbidden from getting it right.

@8:12 am
Must be "pledge week"!

Fish, it’s actually non-profit appreciation week. Message: while we reach into our hearts and wallets to help the victims of the Camp Fire, don’t forget about all the other causes. Surely you can find it in your hearts and wallets to help the other non-profits as well. Dig deeper.

from Harvey Lost - "Demands of Presumption of Innocence from the "Lock her up!" crowd is beyond ironic."
That post was from me. I never said 'lock her up' - I just wanted an actual investigation. But it's way too late now.
Do try to pay attention here.

If you think climate change is a "scam" Scott perhaps you should consult with NID who are using it as their flagship for building a new dam at a cost to ratepayers of up to a billion dollars. I assume that you don't share their concerns about climate change and therefore don't support a new Dam.

PaulE 1239pm - What is with you and the English language? Where did I oppose NID using climate change for building the dam? I think when you first tried to pass off this excuse for logic in the Sandbox, I gave you a detailed response. Your ignoring such efforts doesn't bode well for people taking the time to respond to your endless questions.

You oppose the notion of climate change being promoted as an urgent situation. It makes sense then that you should oppose NID using it as their flagship reason for building a Dam that may cost ratepayers up to a billion dollars. Is this not an example of the manifestation of what you refer to as "Climate Hysteria".

Maybe GeorgeR is using the same tactic you used when you were a proponent of affordable housing then fought against it. Maybe he knows the politics to build the dam requires agreement to some things that will make it happen as the big picture of water storage is more important then fighting the true believers every minute.

Paul - at 9:43 I posted a link to an article about AlGore's 24 hr song and dance hoopla. I also mentioned the on-going riots in France over the increased costs of energy due solely to Macron's claims it will be 'good' for the environment.
Apparently referring to that post, you wrote "If you think climate change is a "scam" Scott..."
I never thought or wrote or hinted that, Paul. You just made it up. Of course the climate is changing. North America was under a mile of ice and the oceans were far, far lower than they are now. The climate has warmed and cooled since then and the oceans continue to rise as they have for millennia.
The leftists and the useful idiots of the world have been using the AGW hoax for decades now to usher in socialistic policies that they have been otherwise unable to do so for quite a while. Many of these leaders in the AGW fight have openly declared they don't even care about the science of AGW, they just want to get rid of capitalism. And certain wealthy and powerful figures such as AlGore have used AGW policies to further enrich themselves at the expense of poorer citizens.
Again, I say for the sake of Paul and others who can't comprehend English - It's a scam.
Paul's 'assumptions' of what others think are nothing more than laughable attempts to make relevant comments in lieu of having no poll or bumper sticker to quote.

No Scott, I'm just curious as to why you don't challenge NID on their argument that we need a new billion dollar dam because of climate change. Since you have not spoken up opposing NID about this reasoning you must therefore believe climate change is a serious enough problem to spend a billion dollars to mitigate it's effects. Can you clarify your lack of response to NID?

C'mon Scott…..don't you want to play another game of Uncle Punchys Super Happy Funtime Question Show…..best thing about it is that it never ends! There is always another tedious series of open ended question to answer!

“PaulE 1239pm - What is with you and the English language? Where did I oppose NID using climate change for building the dam? “ —-Dr. Rebane

“George
You oppose the notion of climate change being promoted as an urgent situation. It makes sense then that you should oppose NID using it as their flagship...”

Hmm. “ It makes sense then that you should oppose...”. Aha! Therein likes the problem. It makes sense to whom? Dr. Rebane’s position makes perfect sense to me. We need more water storage in a State that had recently imposed mandatory water because there was not enough water to go around. We need water storage in a State that has doubled in population with since our massive water projects were build under Edmund G. Brown. Plus the mandatory water release into the Delta. And building new homes. And...

Speaking of water projects (storage for lean times), I do liken the current Climate Hysteria crowd to the same folks who were chanting “Tear down Hetch Hetchy” not that very long ago. Tear it down! Rather short sighted of them, no?
Now they are saying “Millions are going to die if we do not sent billions of our greenback dollars to faceless bureaucrats in Paris today, while not one single G-20 country is even close to hitting their marks. But, send money right now or else CA will burn up, lol. Elimating fossil fuels with make the forests healthy and no more wildfires.

Hmm. What ever happened to the 31,000 scientists (which included 9,000 Phds) who signed a letter presented to the Kyoto Climate Accord Confab that said they have found no scientific evidence of man made global warming? All put their John Handcock on the letter, all 31,000 of them. Nothing to see here.

Water is the new gold in CA. Always been that way since the 20 Century. In years of plenty, one must save for years of lean. It’s only prudent to take a longer term view. More hands in the cookie jar means more cookies needed.

Fun facts:
THERE IS NO “97% CONSENUS” – IT’S A FRAUD.
The main “study” behind the claim:
* Only looked at climate scientists, not “all scientists” as the media & liberals claim.
* Only looked at climatologists who study global warming, not all climatologists.
* Of that tiny number only 32% said warming is caused by humans. NOT 97%
* The MAJORITY had no opinion or believed that humans do not cause it.
Believe the data, not the hype!

"...massive water projects were build under Edmund G. Brown." Ahem. Hetch Hetchy was just a wee bit before Brown. Shasta Dam was started in 1938. Oroville was in the planning stages before Pat Brown was sworn in. There were a lot of dams put in while Brown was governor but most were PG&E or various water districts. Brown certainly didn't stand in the way of the water projects, but I would think the only dam we could actually credit him with wasn't built - the Auburn Dam. I will give you the California Water Project, although the idea started before Brown was sworn in he did push it through. Brown was big on freeway construction. The payola and kickbacks were easy pickings for Brown and his chums.

Paul at 2:01 - "No Scott, I'm just curious as to why you don't challenge NID on their argument that we need a new billion dollar dam because of climate change."
No?
No, what?
Are you now claiming that you didn't write "If you think climate change is a "scam" Scott..."
I'd love to know what the 'no' referred to.
"I'm just curious as to why you don't challenge NID on their argument that we need a new billion dollar dam because of climate change. Since you have not spoken up opposing NID about this reasoning you must therefore believe climate change is a serious enough problem to spend a billion dollars to mitigate it's effects. Can you clarify your lack of response to NID?"
First of all Paul, I've already addressed this very same issue you keep harping on.
As far as your reasoning goes in regards to me not speaking up...
The short answer is I don't live in California any more and I don't give a rip one way or another.
To say that my lack of 'speaking up' means that I "must therefore believe climate change is a serious enough problem to spend a billion dollars to mitigate it's effects."
No, Paul it doesn't.
It could actually mean quite a few different things most all of which you haven't got the mental acuity to grasp.
Start with the short answer I gave earlier.
We can work from there.
I think NID's customer base has grown leaps and bounds since they last built a water storage facility. More population - more water storage.
I don't think that's too hard a concept for you to grasp, is it?
They want to get as many folks on board with the project as they can, so they pitch it as a response to 'global warming'.
It's a sales pitch, Paul.
Get it?

Bill - gasp! Zut Alors! Are you saying those progressive all-leftists in France are resisting the fact that they are poorer in order to allow AlGore to get richer?
They must bow to the green god of AGW!
Paul Emery has the details.
Contact him for further updates.

MLH has some interesting points - "Black resistance to American apartheid did not come purely through Gandhi and nonviolence. Rather, slave revolts and self-defense and tactics otherwise divergent from Dr. King or Mahatma Gandhi were equally important to preserving safety and attaining freedom. We must allow—if we are to operate in true solidarity with Palestinian people, we must allow the Palestinian people the same range of opportunity and political possibility."
But, no fire arms - right?
Yeah, right.
Welcome to the NRA Mr Hill.
Or are you talking spitwads and pea shooters?

A Political Report Masquerading as Science’: The Truth About the New Climate Report

Cal Thomas

Each time an end-of-the-world prophecy is delivered—whether by a self-deluded preacher, a group of politicians, or scientists—we are told that we must believe. Never mind how many of their prophecies have been wrong in the past, this time they mean it.

The latest prophecy of doom and planetary extinction comes from a government report authored by people appointed during the Obama administration. This report, and others before it, concluded that Earth is warming, humans are responsible, and that we have only 10 years to fix it.

But wait, haven’t there been earlier deadlines, which have passed, and aren’t we still here with weather patterns behaving much as they have before, to wit, hot summers, cold winters, fires, floods, and earthquakes?

Paul Krugman, the notoriously wrong columnist for The New York Times (he predicted “a global recession, with no end in sight,” if Donald Trump became president), has gone beyond science, labeling those who disagree with global warmists “depraved.”

lol. Nice guy. Yet one more in a generation of pseudo-academics let loose upon the world to bedevil us.

I'm assuming that the KVMR hive mind is anti-Israel, so I don't expect much in the way of Green Libertarian response here. In any case, Middle Eastern politics is so complicated that any local's opinion on it is essentially valueless. For now, I guess it's enough that Trump is pro-Israel and that the country is at least partly an outpost of Western Civilization. That can't be good after all.

The real point of the post is to suggest a topic for GeorgeR. The growth of the fake professor, most especially in the era of grievance politics. Just which sorts of things are worth a terminal degree and just how many people are going down the route of made-up/unimportant studies departments?

This is a entertaining passage regarding said election contrasting our most maligned state ….Mississippi…with our smuggest (that would be us) state!

"In contrast to California, where votes for one House seat are still being counted after three weeks as election scribes are dusting their abaci as they await a satchel of absentee ballots being delivered by The Caravan and are still looking for translators for court-mandated ballots printed in gang neck tattoos and Nazca Lines ancient astronaut symbols, Mississippi is a modern state with computers and wires and things like that.

So, in Mississippi, tonight’s election is over and the Republican won."

Looks like marshmallowing has finally hit Utopia. The creatures are leaving the hardened city to hoist their violence and crimes upon us soft urbanites. Perusing the sheriffs log, at the risk of being labeled a profiler, it appears to my simple eye that an inordinate number of recently apprehended perps look to be "of color" in our predominantly white community. I'll probably get banned for even suggesting such a thing. Maybe Nevada City should offer them Gratitude Bowls in hopes that they will leave without doing harm to us or their karma.

Andy May, Citizen Scientist has done a detailed analysis of Vol. II of The Assessment at Watts Up With That.

The worst possible scenario in NCA4 results in a GDP decrease that is far less than the margin of error in the estimate. In other words, it amounts to nothing. This is pretty much what the report itself amounts to.

WalterW 856am - Welcome Mr White, and you bring up a needed point re our county's recent (growing?) crime scene. We are indeed in the cross-hairs of our regional urban perps, and since most of them, in California at least, are 'people of color', we, as 'welcoming community' will continue to be the target of such visitations. And we can now expect howls of 'racism!!' when anyone points out that a rational prejudgment of visitors that don't look like the overwhelming share of us will be that they are likely lowlifes here to burgle, rob, and/or do drug deals like the recent RMJ deal that went bad. Your continued observations will interest RR readers of both sides of the aisle. But do stand by for ram.

These are OUR kids, and citizens butchered just across the boarder.
I demand the same outrage. ( but I sure won't hold my breath)

"Two California teens and their Mexican friend were reportedly tortured, stripped to their underwear and killed execution-style early Sunday at an apartment complex in Mexico -- and authorities have no idea why.

Christopher Alexis Gomez, 17, and Juan Suarez-Ojeda, along with their unidentified 18-year-old friend, were found dead at the Lomas Verdes housing complex in Tijuana, The San Diego-Union Tribune reported. Local Mexican reports stated police found the three teens’ bodies in front of an apartment door after shots were reported to have been fired around 5 a.m. Sunday."

No, I am not going to duck under the blankets or put my head in the sand, nor try to prove to anyone anywhere that I am not a racist or any such nonsense. It’s like responding to one of those “Are you done beating your wife yet?” questions. With the disclaimers out of the way.....

I too have noticed that there appears to be an unusual frequency of major crimes committed by black folks from out of town going on here in the past few months. Not talking Police Blotter stuff, but crimes that are either local breaking news or warrant more than a paragraph.
The murder of the missing vet involved a black man. Not the only suspect, but one of the two.
-The Team Mobile robbery, the second one. Maybe the first one as well.
-The recent home invasion on Pleasant Street in GV.
-The two girls (last week?) who shoplifted in the Brunswick Badin and fled at 100 mph with lights off ddown Hwy 49 until they crashed their vehicle. Shoplifting may not be a serious crime and is quite common, so common it’s like folks breaking in cars to steal CD’s and loose change. What is uncommon is the fleeing down the highway with lights off at speeds up to 110 mph.
And that is just off the top on my head. There are a few more no doubt I missed. It’s just seems to me that more serious felonies are becoming more frequent involving urban rats coming up here to commit more serious crimes. It’s the frequency that catches my attention. Whether these folks are passing through, I do not know.

Of course murder has been around since the first man born killed the second man born. Neither is crime here something new under the sun. When I moved up here, their was a stretch of two years where the murders were basically somebody dumping the body off in Nevada County, generally. Crimes committed outside the area and using the backroads and highways of Nevada County to dump the evidence. And some involved people of color. And patch pirates and home invasions are not new, with some (most) of those crimes involving out of area folks, some who are black or brown and white. Nothing new. What is new is instead of seeing a black man or woman involved in these crimes every now and then, it is becoming more now than then over time. Whether this is just a spike or trend, I cannot say.

It is not racist to point out that 13% of the population commits over half the murders in the USA. It was not racist for Dr. MLK to point out in the early 60’s that black people in the mid-size city he was addressing made up 27% of the population and committed 83% of the murders. Dr. King’s point was we have a problem in our own communities that needs to be addressed...outside of racism.

Since a black person stands out in places like Vermont or western Nevada County, it is not unusual for folks to notice there appears to be an increase in serious crimes committed by black out of towners recently. Change my mind. Are my eyeballs deceiving me?

Antidotal story. On the old Union website, I received the most feedback I ever had from a a mere short comment of mine. All positive. The Union headline was the theft of marijuana from a residence and yard on Bennet St near Bruckwick. All over the news on KNC0 as well. Maybe 20 years ago. A group of “big black males” entered the residence and made off with all the pot from inside the home and maybe the garden as well. Patch pirates, plus. Lady resident was home at the time. The suspects were from Oakland. My comment was, “Oakland Raiders?”

NCA’s dire prediction of a 10 percent hit to the GDP comes from a 2017 study supported by the charitable foundations founded by major Democratic donors. The study was also funded by other organizations, including the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Skoll Global Threats Fund.

That 2017 study, published in the journal Science, was funded in part by Bloomberg Philanthropies and Next Generation, which were founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer, respectively.

University of Colorado professor Roger Pielke Jr. pointed out problems with the study on Twitter Saturday, including the fact it was funded by groups connected with Bloomberg and Steyer.